Desert Champions Trophy - 2021

[M.Seidam]

Massive and huge thank you to the organizing and support team @Gaurav Khanna , @Frederic @Srikumar @Asif @Rizwan @Anish Sookun @Vinod and all who contributed for this event to make it happen  which was super outstanding and Kudos to all the teams whom they drove today in the mystique desert of Lesaili . Congratulations 🎉 for the Arabian red fox team lead by Richard @Wrangeld and to all other teams every one was a champion in the heart .

[Frederic]

Fantastic morning with the most fantastic team members who came to push the envelope on their cars, focus, and skills. 

@Gaurav you have knocked it out of the park. From the meticulous planning, setup, merchandise, and covering all possible loopholes, you checked all the boxes.

@Srikumar, @Asif Hussain as always present and up to any challenge xx

A special thanks to @Hisham Masaad and his son for the help behind the screens, really appreciated all your efforts and help !

Also to @Lawrence_Chehimi who was willing to shift from his support role on the DCT, to supporting the Absolute Newbie drive the same morning, so @Vanessa8580 could focus on leading again after her hiatus and needed recovery.

All of you are winners, i only saw smiling faces, camaraderie, and teamwork. All made it back safely out of this treacherous terrain and i salute all of you !

To ALL the trip leads, i can only imagine the pressure and adrenaline going through your minds, trying to find the sweetest/shortest/fastest track all while having hands on the wheel in this unforgiving terrain. 

Inbetween the morning breakfast and other tasks i was able to quickly launch the mini drone and capture some basic shots. Next time i should prepare more on the proper angles and footage. Will need to get some practice coming winter.

 

 

 

See you all soon in the sand !

 

[Srikumar]

WOW!! What an event!! Congratulations to the entire club for coming together to pull off such an event with such precision. Major credit has to be given to @Gaurav for conceptualizing, planning and executing every single detail. Salute to you buddy, I have learnt a lot just by being there this morning. Also thank you to Sohini Bhabhi for arranging all the food and refreshments.

Big Shout out to @Frederic @Asif Hussain  @Hisham Masaad and his son (Abdul Ghani) to start the preparation at the unearthly hour of 4 AM. Fantastic support and contributions by @Tbone @Anish S @Rizwanm2 for helping in every possible way. An equal mention to @Vanessa8580 @Lawrence_Chehimi @Brette for coming to help after just concluding their Absolute Newbie drive.

At Carnity, we have always built a team spirit and helping attitude to one another. Today along with that we got to see a fantastic competitive spirit between the teams, starting from the Leads all through the team members. Standing at the finish line, with all the team rushing in to try and clock the fastest speed, one could feel the adrenaline pumping. I personally loved the strong competitive spirit displayed with the right sportsmanship, as that is what this Desert Champion Trophy was all about. 

Congratulations to all the drive participants, you were all winners today. But ofcourse we can have only One CHAMPION for this year, the Team of Arabian Red Fox comprised of @Ruan van den Heever @M.Seidam @Bernard Kalaani @Mario Cornejobrilliantly led by the Tech King Richard @Wrangeld to complete the course in 1 hour 32 mins. 

ALL HAIL THE CHAMPIONS !! 

[Anish S]

First, I would like to felicitate @Carnity and the organiser for coming up with the idea and making the tournament happen. I must say that it was a great success, i was very surprised with the whole event and especially with all the attention to details you cared of.

Hats off to all Leaders who participated in the challenge. It takes lots of bravery and determination to lead a team for a competition, it must be very hard to manage and lead under such pressure. You all made it safely through the waypoints and back with your whole team.

Kudos to all participants for having the courage to accept the challenge and joining forces together for your team to win. Now u can fly your Carnity Flag proudly.

Congratulations and big Bravo 👏 to the whole team Arabian Red Fox for winning  the Carnity Desert Champion Trophy, Great accomplishment team.

[Sunil Mathew]

Eager to see the full results, and how other teams faired in terms of total time, time at each way point etc...hope these will be published 

[Srikumar]

I would request all the Leads @Ale Vallecchi @Wrangeld @Kailas @Jeepie@Lorenzo Candelpergher and @Chaitanya D to share their planning and routes taken to accomplish the task

[Ahmed Wagdy]

Amazing to all of the participants and especially the leads, that seems to be quite an event, hopefully will be able to join in next time.

It will be good to have some lessons learned and some hands on experience gained by all of the participating teams to be shared with everyone, i assume it was quite an experience.

 

And for Carnity team, thanks for arranging such events making it really interesting and joyful to be part of such group.

[Gaurav]

Everyone please share your full resolution videos (gopro, dashcam, etc.) whatever you have taken during the drive with wetransfer on my email: [email protected].

We plan to add these drive videos to the master video of the whole event.

@Daniel Rodas @Werno @Javier Lucero @Zed @Alexander Alcala @Mario Cornejo @M.Seidam @Humayun Ghias @varunmehndiratta @Hisham Masaad @Anoop Nair @Niki @JamesThorn @Ruan van den Heever @Chaitanya D @Foxtrot Oscar @Lorenzo Candelpergher @Tbone @Jeepie @sertac @Asif Hussain @Kailas @JeromeFJ @Bernard Kalaani @Looper @Alexanderrr @Mus_hus78 @Daniel Yang @Wrangeld @GauravSoni @Matt.T @Warren Flay @Ale Vallecchi @Mohamad Anwer @Frederic @Srikumar @Jorge Stepniak Felippe @Rizwanm2

[Gaurav]

Thank you very much everyone for the whole-hearted participation to make this first-ever - Desert Champions Trophy so successful, entertaining, and thrilling for all of us.

It was an AWESOME feeling to see everyone completing the entire course of an event without any breakdown, damage, or injury. And this is exactly what is going to motivate us to plan such events in the future.

Secondly, we were also impressed with all team's patience and faith in us to respect the true Desert Champion, without any disputes, arguments or sad faces. This truly tells us that all team members and lead have taken this as a fair sporting event and understood that winning or losing is beyond any "Champion" title.

Special thanks to all crew, marshals, experts, advisors and support team to help conceive this whole event with utmost dedication, creativity, and meticulous planning. And help us manage and deliver this event flawlessly.

[Varun Mehndiratta]

Beautifully organized event team @Carnity very well planned, structured and executed. 

For me the event provided a glance to challanges that leads face while planning and executing  regular Through my association with @Carnity I  could well appreciate how much real home work, time and grey matter scratching is required to be put in by leads However after today's experience that admiration has further grown exponentialy. 

 @Jeepie as lead reminded me of words of my long time professional mentor  *leadership isn't about proving one is the smartest person in the team but ensuring that team works towards the smartest soln". Despite all her experience the way she allowed the team to plan the path was just incredible. Thanks @Jeepie for providing us with this experience. 

Ofcourse as @Srikumar summarised in his final remarks - we could actually see today how the competitive challange helped us all grow out of our comfort zone. We had a mixed convoy and seeing drivers from all level collaborating, respecting each other skill set and in the process  helping each other to grow was surely a sight to cherish. 

While Team Arabian Fox won the competition, we all as offroaders won the day today. 

Ps : @Wrangeld since morning today, @Jeepie has  reminded me countless time that  I voted for your team not hers (and ours). And after your success, Its been clear that major reason for success wasn't your experience but my vote, so you owe me a   contributory treat..😂😂